Category: Thanksgiving

Choose to Be Grateful. It Will Make You Happier

11/24/2015

Thanksgiving is upon us and as you know, gratitude isfoundational to my life, the gift my mom gave me and so many others. We can be thankful, grateful, however you want to phrase it, in personal prayer, but what about expressing it out in the world? Sharing gratitude changes us, changes others, changes the world.
Arthur C. Brooks, in “Choose to Be Grateful. It Will Make You Happier” (NYT, November 21, 2015), offers some suggestions, but please, read the entire text.
• Acting happy, regardless of feelings, coaxes one’s brain into processing positive emotions.
• Choosing to focus on good things makes you feel better than focusing on bad things.
• Choosing gratitude can also bring out the best in those around us.
• Move to “exterior gratitude.” Write two short emails each morning to friends, family or colleagues, thanking them for what they do.
• Be grateful for useless things.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/opinion/sunday/choose-to-be-grateful-it-will-make-you-happier.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share
Am posting this on my cottagebythesea blog as well.

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Very grateful--the foundation of faith~

7/7/2012

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     I keep thinking of gratitude as the core, the foundation of faith. Notice how the Psalmist often starts by thanking God for creation, and how St. Paul begins and ends his letters with gratitude. And of course ‘very grateful’ was my mom’s favorite expression of faith, the last words she uttered before she died at 101.

     The moment I wake up I try to think of specific things that I’m grateful for, but I must confess that my mind usually slips into the mundane planning of the day ahead, or to any worries that I’m still carrying around from the day before. But I’m getting better, and before the day is too far along, I try to write down at least five ‘gratitudes’ in my journal.

       And the city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the Glory of God is it’s light and it’s lamp is the Lamb. Rev. 21.23

    This morning’s reading from Revelations sparked the thought that God is inherent in every gratitude, and that if I can just remember to find a blessing in everything that I experience, God will always be present to me. This seems like a worthy practice because how easy it is to slip away from God, to forget to light the lamp, to see Christ in all things.

    So, my challenge is to keep noticing little blessings as I go through the day.

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All shall be well~

9/21/2011

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      Monday I had Mohs surgery to take care of a squamous cell carcinoma on my face. All went well and I’ve had no bothersome repercussions such as a head ache or bruising; the only thing I had to deal with was an oversized bandage but that’s gone now.

      Other than my immediate family and a couple of friends, I didn’t tell anyone about the impending surgery and I only asked one person to pray for me. I considered contacting the church prayer group, but decided to keep it private.

       “Why?”
        I’m always asking myself, “Why?”

        My simple answer is that I didn’t want a lot of attention about it, and that is true. It’s not that I don’t need prayers or that I am too proud to ask. The closest I can get to the truth is that I knew I would be fine, that the procedure would be brief and successful. As Julian of Norwich’s told us six hundred years ago, “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.”

        You see, it doesn’t seem right to send out a prayer request that I don’t need. Asking for prayers is no simple matter, nor is it something to abuse or treat lightly. On the other hand, once the surgery was over, and I couldn’t hide behind the huge white bandage, I began telling people about my experience. Maybe it was my way of thanking God and giving God some recognition. The more thanks and praise we offer God, the more God manifest his love in the world. Good begets good.

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Thanksgiving for Iona~

9/16/2011

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A gorgeous day today after all those days of rain and wind. To glimpse the fullness of God’s glorious creation and God’s awesome omnipotence, I suggest you read the Psalms. My photos are my humble offering of thanksgiving. Here are today’s offerings.
(I thought i posted this a few days ago.)

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Grace

9/9/2011

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It’s evening, the last day at my cottage near the sea on Skye. On Sunday, 9/11, I will be on Iona. I didn’t plan it that way, but what grace. As the day ends, I’m never much for words. But tonight on my final walk along the sea, I felt immense gratitude. In fact, on this trip I’ve been starting my prayer with praise and thanksgiving instead of intercession (or me and for others). How’s that for huge a shift? Starting prayer with God, not me. What grace!!

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Choose to Be Grateful. It Will Make You Happier

Very grateful--the foundation of faith~

All shall be well~

Thanksgiving for Iona~

Grace

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